35: AN AGE NO ONE THOUGHT I’D REACH | HOW REPORTING MY TRAUMA WAS MORE LIFE-SAVING THAN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES | IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

“The best revenge is the massive success.”

Frank Sinatra

It sounds dramatic to say that I can’t believe I made it to 35, but when I tell you that, on numerous occasions, even the professionals – mostly Psychiatrists, but also two ICU Doctors – made comments that they couldn’t envision me making it to my ‘next’ Birthday (mostly between the ages of 18 and 23!) … perhaps now you’ll see the rationale to my surprise that I’m still here?! It meant that I was originally going to centre this Birthday blog post around reasons why I believe I managed to make it to this age, but I found out that I’d done something incredibly similar for my 28^th Birthday (you can read it here) and my 31^st (which you can read here)! In thinking about the reasons, I made it, I realised that I’d list reporting my trauma as the first one – even though I had interactions with mental health services before that which most would probably assume should getting help and support, should have been the first life-saving thing to happen. So, I decided to focus on that…

A POEM FOR MY (ALMOST) STEP-DAD! | HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY BEAR!

EXCLUSIVE INSIGHT INTO THE REVAMP OF GUM ON MY SHOE | GUEST POST BY MARTIN BAKER

“I’ve discovered that in order to make big changes in the world, we have to begin at home.”

Ann M. Martin

I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time to publish this guest post by my best-friend and fellow mental health Blogger (on www.gumonmyshoe.com), Martin Baker. This is mostly because over recent years, he’s actually mentioned a couple of times the idea of making changes to his blog, particularly, in terms of the layout, design, and content of the pages etc but obviously hasn’t acted upon those considerations… Until now! Just two days ago – on January 24^th – Martin finally revealed the huge revamp he’d been working on for what feels like a lifetime! And I’m so incredibly proud of him for taking this huge step and risk, for putting so much time, energy, and thought into blogging. I’ve always said that whilst I don’t have a whole of ‘friends’ I do feel a special connection between Martin and I because he’s my only best-friend with a blog and with blogging and content creation in general, being such a huge and important part of my life, it really matters to have someone who appreciates and understands all that it can entail. So, wishing Martin the most massive of luck for the response he receives from his blog’s readers and an equally massive well done for the dedication, determination, and commitment it took to do the revamp! Now, over to Martin…

RELATING TO MY TWO FAVOURITE PAGES | IN COLLABORATION WITH STACEY MCNEILL, AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR OF FOX UNDER THE MOON | NATIONAL READING DAY 2026

foxunderthemoon | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree

Purchase the Book: https://foxunderthemoonart.com/pages/seasons

“That’s the thing about books; they let you travel without moving your feet.”

Jhumpa Lahiri

In November last year, I visited the Christmas Market at the Spanish City with my fellow mental health blogging best-friend; Martin Baker of Gum On My Shoe, and we met the lovely Stacey McNeill and Jamie! I spotted the subtitle of the book: ‘Seasons of Comfort and Hope’ and asked, “does this mean there’s relevance to mental health?” she nodded and said “yes.” And I was like “just the right person to meet!” and within minutes we were exchanging the stories of our creative journeys, and I’d given her my business card! Kindly, she sent me a copy of the book with a card for myself and Martin and then we emailed about collaborating and, almost before I knew it, this blog post was underway! This post will focus on my two favourite pages from the book…

MY BIRTHDAY WISHLIST | IN PART COLLABORATION WITH WARDOW

“The way I see it, you should live every day like it’s your Birthday!”

Paris Hilton

With my Birthday in just a couple of weeks (February 1^st), I’ve been looking through my saved lists on my favourite websites for something to treat myself to and thanks to Wardow, I finally managed to purchase my favourite Valentino! It’s honestly been in my ‘love list’ for around six or seven months – though it feels like forever! – but full price, it was £130.50 and whilst I did feel that it was worth it because of its brand and it’s pretty huge(!), that is still a lot of money when you have bills to pay! Fortunately, however, Wardow helped me out and then they also had a discount code (WINTER – it should still be valid when this post is published) which gives you 10% off. Then, I also had over £10 in ‘points’ (you receive loyalty points per £1 you spend) on my account from previous purchases so I managed to get it for less than half price!! Inspired by this, I decided to create my Birthday wishlist where I’ve looked through my – probably – three favourite retail sites and my go-to’s for Birthday gifts: ASOS, Wardow, and Amazon UK for goodies of all different prices. Hopefully you’ll be inspired for any upcoming Birthdays for your friends or family or, as I have done, for yourself…